Edwards vs Usman III

Who won Edwards vs Usman III?

Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman by majority decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC 286, on Saturday 18th March 2023 at o2 Arena in London.

The scorecards were announced as 48-46, 48-46, 47-47 in favor of winner Leon Edwards.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

This contest was for the UFC welterweight championship.

Edwards vs Usman III stats

Leon Edwards stepped into the octagon with a record of 20 wins, 3 loses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Kamaru Usman made his way to the cage with a record of 20 wins, 2 loses and 0 draws, with 9 of those wins by knock out and 1 by submission.

The stats suggested Usman had a slight advantage in power over Edwards, with a 45% knock out percentage over Edwards' 35%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Edwards had a slight advantage over Usman, with a 15% submission rate over Usman's 5%.

Leon Edwards was the younger man by 4 years, at 32 years old.

Edwards had a height advantage of 2 inches over Usman. Despite this, Usman had 4-inch reach advantage.

Edwards was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 1 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 1 year and 5 months earlier than Usman, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 4 less professional rounds, 72 to Usman's 76.

Edwards vs Usman III form

Edwards had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, United States.

Previous to that, he had defeated Nate Diaz at UFC 263 on 12th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 21 on 13th March 2021 by unanimous decision in the 2nd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had beat Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 4 on 20th July 2019 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at AT&T Center, San Antonio.

He had won against Gunnar Nelson at UFC on ESPN+ 5 on 16th March 2019 by split decision in their 3 round contest at 02 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Usman had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Leon Edwards at UFC 286 on 18th March 2023 by majority decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at o2 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, United States.

Going into that contest, he had beat Colby Covington at UFC 268 on 6th November 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Before that, he had defeated Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 on 24th April 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville.

He had won against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 on 13th February 2021 by knockout in the 3rd round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Kamaru Usman had been fighting more than Leon Edwards.

Going to this contest, Leon Edwards had last fought 1 year, 3 months and 10 days ago, while Kamaru Usman's last outing had been 8 months and 12 days ago.

Edwards' last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 8 months and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 10 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 20 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4 rounds on average.

Usman's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 9 months and 17 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 23 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 20 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Edwards vs Usman III?

Leon Edwards was a 9/4 (+230) underdog going into the contest, while Kamaru Usman made his way into the ring at 9/25 (-280) with oddsmakers.